IchiHime week
by Tia-Chan18
Summary: They're an odd couple. Let's take a dive into their relationship and see what it's like. (IchiHime week)
1. Five Lifetimes, one love

So this is my first time participating in IchiHime week! I'm hoping doing this will inspire me to finish my other IchiHime story (Writer's block, gotta love it) but nonetheless, I have to get back into writing them! So hopefully this will do me justice.

Day one: Five livetimes, one love.

(I don't own bleach)

* * *

It was a bright and beautiful day in the town of Karakura. Things had finally calmed down after the war with Aizen and the gang had been returning back to their normal routine. Keigo was still loud as ever, which made Ichigo wonder if there was ever a doubt to worry about him knowing about his powers. Mizurio was still a womanizer, constantly on his phone, and the others were as normal as they could be.

His mind turned towards a young healer, who had taken time out of her days to meet up with him and help him study. It felt nice being able to connect with Orihime. After she had been kidnapped, he had seen her in another light, something had caused him to actually notice her for the first time. And without worrying about hollows or evil shinigami, it made him much happier knowing he could connect with his friends.

They had just headed to the library, feeling that some peace and quiet would do them some good. Tatsuki had a practice after school, leaving Ichigo to spend time with the healer. It was nice for them to just be able to study in peace.

"Ne, Ichigo-kun?"

He looked up from his books to seeing Orihime already looking at him, her eyes bright and happy. He had to admit; he missed seeing her like this.

"What's up, Orihime?"

"Do you ever wonder where we get our powers from?"

He blinked. This was not what he was expecting to come from her mouth. Then again, this was Orihime and she had a habit of talking about weird things.

"Well.. I know I got my shinigami powers from my father.. But I never really thought about it before. Why do you ask?"

She was biting on the end of her pencil out of nervousness. "It's just.. I never knew my parents. I was just thinking about where my powers came from because they're so different from yours. Even Urahara-san they were quite different. I mean, it's not bad to be different, but it's just so weird how I have the ability to reverse effects."

He nodded. He knew her powers came from her ability to wanting to protect others. But she did have a point. They weren't like shinigamis and they weren't like a hollow's power either. He didn't really know much about her powers and it made him realize there was another reason to like her.

"Also... Do you think we've met before? Like in another lifetime?"

This time, he coughed out of nervousness. He definitely wasn't expecting that kind of question, but seeing her stare at him made him answer with a sincere tone.

"Truth is.. I'm not really sure. I've always wondered about that because Rukia did say that after sixty years, the souls there are reborn. So.. maybe we have met in a different life. We just don't know about it."

She nodded. "I hope it was something exciting like western time or perhaps a futuristic time! It'd be cool to shoot cowboys and ride in spaceships!"

He chuckled at her wild imagination. It's true that she was considered weird by everyone in the school, but he also admired her for the way she was. It seemed they had a lot in common, such as they don't care what others think about them, their ability to detect hollows and fight them. But the one that struck him was their need to protect their family and friends.

He could feel his heart flutter but inwardly cursed as he didn't want her to notice his nervousness. There was only one question that plagued his mind.

Did he feel like this in any of those past lives?


	2. Promise

So I did an oopsie, and did the 5th prompt for the 1st day. So for the 5th day, i will use the 1st prompt. Sorry it's late.

Day 2: Promise

* * *

"Inoue... I.."

"He's sorry that he's so weak!" Rukia yelled in a huff while forcing his head to look at the ground.

Orihime was left speechless at this action, not knowing if she should ask if he was okay or not. But before she could even form words to respond, he beat her to it.

"I... I'll get stronger... and then... Next time... I'll definitely protect you!"

She stood there in shock, not knowing how to respond. Here stood the guy she had a crush on, pledging his life to protect her. She wasn't sure if she should be happy or be sad.

She looked at the small shinigami who stood beside him, wondering if she had any part in this. But she couldn't blame her either. Since the arrancar came, Ichigo had been beating himself up over both of them being hurt. He wouldn't look at her, or even talk to her. She swallowed before turning her gaze to her saviour in front of her.

Her eyes started to water before she gave a small smile, showing that she was okay with his words.

Just standing there, fire blazing in his eyes was enough to show he really meant what he said. But Orihime knew better than to doubt Ichigo, he had always protected her in the past. And saying it out loud was just like making a promise. While she didn't know what to really say, she knew that she had to protect him too.

She was so happy that he was back to his normal self. His eyes weren't empty anymore, but filled with an emotion that she's seen him only wear in battle. The determination in his eyes made her want to cry, seeing him the way he used to be. She made a internal promise that day to always protect him, so he wouldn't have to bear the pain alone.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun."

There was a pause, before she whispered. "And thank you Kuchiki-san" turning around, she had tears in her eyes but she saw the happy smile Rukia wore, and she knew that she was back this time.

"Welcome back!"


	3. Hurt

This one focuses more on Orihime's perspective . How she feels about Ichigo and the pain of not being with him. I'll try to not make it angsty. but I hope you enjoy!

Day 3: Hurt

* * *

She could feel her heart clench in pain whenever she saw the two together. From what she knew, they weren't together. And as far as she knew, Ichigo was oblivious when it came to love and Rukia didn't really know the concept either. They were both oblivious and unaware of the stares that looked their way when they passed people in the halls.

So then why did she feel so sad?

She didn't understand what she was feeling. Part of it was jealousy for the petite girl, but there was another feeling lingering beneath her skin. She couldn't put a name to it yet, but each day it got stronger, and she wasn't sure what it was.

"_Kurosaki's pretty close with that new girl. Are they going out?"_

_"Psh. No way, Kurosaki would never get a girl like that! Besides, Kuchiki seems way too sophisticated for someone like him."_

_"I don't know guys. They seem pretty close for two people who are __**just**__ friends."_

_"Ha! Believe what you want. I __**know**__ they're not together."_

Despite ignoring what others whispered in the hallways, she could still feel the tightening of her chest when she saw them. He still wore the scowl, but sometimes it'd seem lighter, like whatever she said made him feel less stressed. She always wished she had a connection with him. Rukia always made it look so easy, but Orihime couldn't even stop stuttering when she was around him, much less talk to him without looking away.

Even if she wanted to approach him and talk with him, her fear of rejection stopped her. She kept to herself, only talking to Tatsuki about her feelings. She just decided to watch from afar, hoping that one day, she'd be able to talk to him.

It seemed her chance came at an interesting time. All of them were meeting up for a group activity. Normally Orihime was happy, but today, she felt so nervous and anxious at the same time.

"Oi, Inoue!"

Turning her head, she saw Ichigo walk towards her, his hands in his pockets.

"Hello, Kurosaki-kun." She paused, looking around for the petite girl that generally followed him around.

"Where's Kuchiki-san?"

He shrugged, "Dunno. She wasn't at the house when I left. I'm sure she'll meet up with us soon."

She looked at him. "She lives with you?"

He scratched the back of his head. "It's a bit complicated, but my dad said she could stay. Though I was against it."

She felt the feeling hit her once again, and she looked at the ground, her arms behind her back, "I see..."

His eyebrow raised at her sudden change. She wouldn't look at him and for some reason it bothered him.

"Are you alright Inoue?"

She looked at him with a fake smile plastered on her face. "Of course Kurosaki-kun! Why wouldn't I be?"

He shrugged, though he could tell something was off. If she didn't want to talk about it, it wasn't his business to pester her. But it bothered him to know that she would keep her feelings hidden.

"Well, should we go meet up with the others?"

She smiled before following behind him. She held the hurt inside, not wanting any of her friends to worry about her. And when she watched him walking, she realized what the other feeling was.

**Hurt**.


	4. Strength

Here's Day 4: Strength.

(I don't own bleach)

* * *

It seems her training had finally paid off. After the group reunited after the death of Aizen, Orihime was left with one final task. This would determine if she was truly capable of using her abilities.

"Inoue-chan. Are you ready?"

She looked at Urahara, who had placed the Hougyoku in front of the young healer. This was her purpose of heading to Hueco Mundo in the first place. Her primary goal was to protect those she loved, but finding the hougyoku and destroying it was the second reason. It was the main reason she didn't want to leave in the first place.

She swallowed before a look of determination spread across her face. She nodded.

"I'm ready."

Letting her have space, the group took a couple steps back, not wanting to interfere with the healer's goal. Ichigo watched in awe as Orihime summoned her fairies without saying the incantation. It seems Hueco Mundo had changed his young friend, making her more mature and determined. He wondered if she was still scared of him, after seeing his ultimate transformation and stabbing Ishida in the gut with his zanpakutou.

He kept his eyes on her as her eyes lowered slightly, completely focused on the task before her.

"Orihime's gotten so much stronger." Rukia whispered in awe.

Ichigo couldn't form any sort of response so he nodded in agreement. It wasn't just seeing her like this, that caused him to be stunned in amazement. It was seeing how quickly she was able to heal everyone in this very room and still having the power to completely erase the small orb beneath them.

There was no response when Orihime's fairies went back to their master, everyone watching as the orb disappeared in the light. Taking a deep breath, Orihime opened her eyes, not realizing they had closed for a moment before looking up at Kisuke with a smile on her face.

"It's been done, Urahara-san. The Hougyoku will no longer be a threat to any of us."

Everyone cheered before hugging Orihime in happiness. One of the greatest threats next to Aizen had been destroyed. It made everyone relieved that they didn't have to worry about the orb fall into the hands of evil again.

Taking a step towards the healer, Ichigo placed his hand on her head, lightly rubbing her hair.

"You did good, Inoue. You've gotten a lot stronger."

Looking up at her saviour, she blushed a bit before smiling, "It's all because I have very supportive friends. Thank you, Kurosaki-kun."

He gave her a small smirk before replying,

"No problem, Inoue."


	5. Love at First Sight

Here's **Day 5: Love at first sight.**

(This one was supposed to be the start of the series, but I got mixed up by the prompts and did day 5's as day 1.)

* * *

He wasn't a believer in 'love at first sight' but the moment his eyes locked with hers, he felt himself breathless. There wasn't any other way to describe it. On the outside, he was able to compose himself, wearing the scowl as a mask to hide his feelings. It was an easy mask too, especially when he was around his friends. He could pretend to be oblivious to her beauty, to how friendly she was. And it was such a simple thing for him to do.

However, when they were alone, things were different.

They had just started dating, and they kept it a secret from their friends as they weren't sure where they were heading in this relationship. He knew Tatsuki would freak on him, using a wide variety of her vocabulary to try and scare him. Keigo would cry about how his 'Princess' was taken by some punk like him. And Chizuru..

Well.. He didn't want the lesbian freak to find out period.

Every time he looked at her, his hands would get sweaty, his heart would race at frightening speeds, and his mind was complete mush around her. It would make her feel happy knowing she had such an effect on her crush, but sometimes she worried that he was going to have a heart attack. She couldn't deny the huge attraction she had for the orange-haired lad. And when she looked back on it, she realized for her, it was love at first sight. She didn't want to admit it to him however, as she didn't know how he'd react to her proclamation.

She gasped when he pinned her to the wall behind her door, keeping his gaze on hers. Her eyes were wide, not knowing how to respond to this sudden action. She knew he wasn't good with words, but his actions always made up for his inability to talk. Licking her lips, she opened her mouth to say something, anything, but he beat her to it.

"Do you know how beautiful you are?"

His tone was deep, causing a blush to appear on her face. His eyes were a darker brown, and they bore into her own, as though he was looking into her soul. She felt like she couldn't breathe, his scent was so potent and strong, as he leaned in closer so their lips were a few inches apart.

"I... I don't know what you mean."

He chuckled, "I don't understand how you would choose someone like me of all people. I'm just a punk like everyone says. But you.."

If possible her eyes went wider as he leaned in, teasing her with those lips of his.

"You're a princess. You captured my heart a long time ago, Inoue. I was a fool for keeping the princess waiting."

Her lips quivered slightly but a smile graced her cheeks when she got his meaning.

"I'm not a princess. I'm just a normal girl who had a crush. But this crush turned into something more, because the man she had feelings for proved his worth."

"So does that mean you believe in love at first sight?"

She grinned, "Perhaps. But I believe I was too oblivious to know what love was until recently. I'm glad I realized it now, but I've always loved you, Kurosaki-kun. It started out as something small, but bloomed into something beautiful."

He grinned. "Well then, you'll have to forgive me for doing this."

And with that, he kissed her on the mouth, finally allowing himself to succumb to the feelings growing in his chest. But seeing the expression on her face made him believe that she was completely okay with it.


	6. Family

I thought of this prompt while watching scrubs. It actually gave me the motivation to write this. I want to finish this set and it's taken me so long to do this.

**Day 6: family**

* * *

She rubbed her belly with a small smile on her face. She couldn't believe it.

She was pregnant. With Ichigo's child.

While she was excited to be carrying his child, another part of her was nervous.

How would he react? Would he be happy? Angry? Shocked? So many thoughts raced through her head as she looked at the pregnancy test in front of her.

He hadn't been home for a couple months now, due to an assignment in the Soul Society, and thus he was completely clueless about it. Besides Tatsuki, only two other people knew about the news.

Kurosaki-san and Rukia when she came to visit. She wore her to secrecy as she wanted to be the one to tell him the news and he was due to arrive home at any moment.

She was so anxious for his arrival that she almost forgot to eat. The timer on her oven went off and it scared her out of her thoughts as she headed towards the kitchen to make her lunch. Just as she pulled the food out of the oven, arms wrapped around her stomach causing her to gasp in surprise.

Turning her head slightly, she could feel her eyes water at the sight of his chocolate brown ones and she couldn't help but smile and laugh happily.

"I'm home Hime."

"Welcome back, Ichigo-kun."

Grabbing her lightly, he picked her up before lightly twirling her in his arms. Giggles could be heard in their small apartment as she looked at him with bright gray eyes. Pulling him in for a quick kiss, she murmured, "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

Gently putting her on her feet, he noticed that she looked a little pale . Furrowing his eyebrows, he gently held her face in his hands.

"Are you okay? You look a bit pale."

Looking at the floor, she rested her hand on his before taking a deep breath.

"I have something important to tell you."

Noticing his eyes on her, she tried to gather her thoughts, wanting to tell him without screwing up.

"I took a pregnancy test a week ago... And I found out I was pregnant.."

His eyes widen to the point where she was worried they were going to pop out of their sockets. She felt his hold on her loosen and it concerned her greatly. She waved her hand in front of his face, in hopes of getting his attention.

This seemed to shake him out of his shock as he looked at her, love shining in his eyes.

"You're pregnant?"

She nodded.

"Are you sure it's positive?"

She nodded again, "I got Kurosaki-San to double check for me. I wanted to make sure it wasn't a figment of my imagination."

"So who all knows?"

"Just him, Tatsuki-chan and Rukia-chan."

He scoffed, "So she knew before me. No wonder she was acting so smug when I talked about you."

"You're not mad, are you?"

Seeing the pout on her face, he smiled before pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Are you kidding? I'm so excited, I don't know how to express it in words. We're gonna be parents!"

She could feel the tears in her eyes spill down her cheeks in happiness as she crushed him into a big hug. His arms wrapped around her tightly, feeling a tear of his own slip from his eye before smiling down at her like a child.

"I love you, Hime."

"I love you too."


	7. Waiting

Hey guys, so sorry this took so long to finish. Having a free for all as the last prompt totally killed me cause I wasn't sure what to pick. I sorta got this based off a NaruHina pic I've seen on Tumblr and thought it would apply to IchiHime as well.

Erm, Thanks for sticking with this IchiHime week and I apologize once more for taking so long!

**Prompt: Waiting**

* * *

It had been two years since the war ended against Aizen and the Arrancars. Grimmjow had become the new King of Hueco Mundo and decided to leave the human world at peace. There were times he'd come visit Orihime, and though he would always be questioned why he was in the World of the Living, he didn't get annoyed at their pestering. He had somehow started a bond with the young healer, causing everyone to panic at first. Once they saw how he treated her, they backed off, though one shinigami always watched from a distance.

"You know he's watching again eh?"

She giggled as they walked down a path in the park. "He's always been like that."

He snorted, "I still think it's stupid how he doesn't trust ya."

"It's not me he doesn't trust. It's you Grimmjow-kun."

He sighed, "Yeah well.. That ain't my problem. It's his fault he took so long to notice you. I just decided to help speed up the process cause he's such an airhead."

Both walked together in silence, happy that things had turned out well for each other. Grimmjow had found love in Nel, while Orihime finally managed to get Ichigo to notice her.

"So, how long did it take for him to confess anyway?"

Placing a finger to her lips, she hummed, "Hmm.. It probably took a few months after the war ended. He did lose his powers after all, and not being connected with the other Shinigami really hurt him mentally. He won't admit it out loud though, but I know better than that."

"Ha? I should beat that idiot up! How does it take so long for him to notice? Geez, if I was you, I would've ditched him and moved on a long time ago."

Orihime giggled, "Tatsuki-chan said the same thing! I'm sure you two are the same! But no matter how long it'd take, I would never let go of my feelings for Ichigo."

"Even if he loved that midget shinigami?"

Silence reigned over them, causing Ichigo to hold his breath from the top of the tree. He knew they were aware of his presence, but he didn't want to admit that he couldn't trust Grimmjow around her. He never showed any sign of hurting her, besides what happened in Hueco Mundo, but that didn't stop him from worrying about her safety.

"Even if he loved Rukia, I would still love him. I promised I would love him for more than five lifetimes. Even if he loved another, I don't think I'd be able to move on."

Grimmjow grunted in acknowledgement before sighing. "Well, it seems I better get back."

She blinked, "You have to leave so soon?"

"If I don't head back, I might catch you in a position that is supposed to be kept behind closed doors. Besides, Nel is gonna kill me if I don't return soon."

"She really hates when you leave doesn't she?"

He smirked, "Well, only when I leave without telling her. Anyway, see you around Hime."

Just as Grimmjow left, she turned her head to see Ichigo on the tree branch. His eyes were wide at being caught but he leapt down gracefully before approaching her.

"You don't have to hide when he's here, Ichigo. If anyone else could see you, they'd think you're a stalker."

He chuckled, "Well I don't have to worry because I'm a shinigami." Ruffling a hand through his hair, he sighed as he turned to look at her. "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. I'm not too good at being punctual."

"I don't know about being punctual, but... I do know you never keep me waiting for long. You're always one step ahead of me."

"So... Did you really mean what you said... About always loving me?"

A serious expression took over her usually happy face as she responded, "Ichigo. I would never turn my back on you. I will always love you for five lifetimes or even more. It doesn't matter if we meet early in life or much later in life, my feelings for you will not change. I will always be there to walk with you."

Pulling her into a hug, he whispered into her hair, "Thank you."

Returning the hug, she grinned, "I have enough patience for the both of us." Pulling away to look up at him, she laughed, "Besides, I love you. And that is worth waiting for."

He responded with a kiss on her lips.


End file.
